


Burned Marshmallows and the Sound of Waves

by LadySalamander



Series: Summer Gladnis Week 2019 [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Camping, Extremely light angst, Fluff, Gladio does the cooking for once, M/M, Summer Gladnis Week, campfire cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-20 22:40:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20235535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadySalamander/pseuds/LadySalamander
Summary: Summer Gladnis Week Day 2: bonfire with s'mores / adjectives: relaxed, mischievousIgnis is coerced into relaxing and sharing s'mores with his boyfriend.





	Burned Marshmallows and the Sound of Waves

Ignis stared into the fire, one arm tucked up under his cheek, playing idly with the rounded edges of his phone. Too tired to really do anything, to awake to go to bed the flames entranced him, ever moving, ever changing, drowning out the world around them. Nothing but their orange flicker, the crackle of burning wood and the ever present, rhythmic crash of the surf here at Galdin Quay. He should put his phone down, he thought. It felt weird to put his phone down. But no one was calling him these days, no one was texting him or emailing him or sending him work. Not that there wasn’t work that needed to be done; make camp, break camp, check food, buy food, cook food, check the Regalia’s oil. But it was work that stopped. It was work that had pause. Work that let you look out over the hills and be captured by the sunset. Take a photo. Take a deep breath for the sake of things. No presentation tomorrow, no report due next week, no Scientia can I borrow you for a minute. He should go to bed. Why though? He had no appointments. Why not take a while, lay back here on one of the lounge chairs they dragged up from the beach. He'd worked hard all day. There really was no reason not to enjoy his free time…

“Iggy!”

“Specs!”

“Ground control to Major Ignis!” Ignis dragged his eyes away from the fire, up, and then up again to Gladio standing above him.

“I’ll trade you a s’more for your phone,” said Gladio, proffering the treat, the gooey melted marshmallow center threatening to drip onto his fingers. Ignis frowned.

“When did I buy marshmallows?”

“_You_ didn’t,” said Prompto, biting into his own s’more. Ignis shook his head but sat up anyway. Gladio took his phone and placed it next to the camp stove, only then handing Ignis his dessert. Ignis bit into it, bracing himself for the overwhelming sweetness, but he was pleasantly surprised to find how well balanced the taste had turned out. Prompto took in the pleased look on his face and beamed.

"Dark chocolate!" He explained, "to counteract the sweetness, right?"

"Indeed," Ignis replied. "You've been paying attention." Gladio took the opportunity to slide onto the lounge chair behind him, causing it to creak alarmingly.

"It was Gladio's idea," said Noct. Ignis looked to Gladio, who winked as he ate the second half of his s'more, licking marshmallow off his fingers lewdly and slinging his other arm over Ignis' hip. "He is both sweet and gross enough for all of us," Noct continued. He wasn't even looking at Gladio. Prompto giggled, which set Noct off, pleased with his own joke, and Gladio, the bass rumble of his laugh rolling through Ignis. Ignis smiled, taking another bite of the s'more his friends made him. It was good. This was good, he realized. Everyone was relaxed; everyone had earned the right to relax for a bit, take simple pleasure in the company they kept and the warmth of the fire. Noct put his phone down, chatting aimlessly with Prompto while he helped make another round of s'mores. Gladio's hand drew lazy circles on Ignis' hip, subconsciously in time with the sway of the waves. With every circle he drew closer and closer to the inside of his thigh, and when Ignis glanced over he winked again, the fiend. He should take Gladio's hand, he should really stop where this was going… But to hell. He liked it.

"Crap," hissed Prompto, pulling his flaming marshmallow from the fire. "Gladio, how the hell did you do this?" Gladio sat up and grumbled, taking the bag of marshmallows and the stick from Prompto.

"You gotta have patience, dude."

"Overrated," said Noct, who was scooping the melted center out of a charred marshmallow with a graham cracker.

"I didn't know you were such a practiced chef," Ignis teased.

"I was king of survival training," Gladio replied. Ignis lay back on the lounge, draping his legs over Gladio's knees and grinning. He was feeling good.

"Oh? And here I thought they tested you on your knowledge and your ingenuity, not your expertise in toasting marshmallows."

"It's the little things that make a difference, the personal touches," Gladio grinned at Ignis, while Noct stuck another marshmallow on his skewer. "Also makes you super popular." He gestured to Prompto for the chocolate and crackers, sandwiching the marshmallow and pulling it from the stick with practiced ease. "Here," he broke off a piece of the s'more and offered it to Ignis. "Open up." Ignis parted his lips indulgently and let Gladio feed him the gooey treat.

"Aw, come on," Prompto whined. "I want one too."

"Gross," said Noct. His second marshmallow burst into flame. He started at it morosely. "Gladio. As my shield, my wellbeing is your foremost duty, and the royal wellbeing requires another s'more."

"Whaddya think?" Gladio asked Ignis, who had settled back down and closed his eyes. Ignis waved a hand in acknowledgement.

"One more. Save the rest of the chocolate and I'll make cocoa tomorrow evening.” Gladio obediently speared another marshmallow, balancing the skewer between his knees while breaking off pieces of the s’more for himself and Ignis. Prompto grabbed another marshmallow and coerced the skewer from Noct, hunched over the fire and copied Gladio.

“Dude you’re going to burst into flame,” said Noct, yawning hugely.

“Nuh uh, I’m gonna learn from the master, and then I will take the crown for survival training!”

Prompto’s second marshmallow burst into flame. He swore under his breath and blew on it hastily to put it out.

“Dibs,” said Noct.

Gladio made another round of s’mores for all of them, before Prompto and Noct (who was somehow dozing in his chair despite the amount of sugar he’d consumed) called it a night. They let the fire burn itself down to bright embers, occasionally crackling and sending showers of sparks up to meet the stars in the sky.

“Hey, sauce me a blanket,” said Gladio as Prompto opened the tent, snatching the proffered fleece out of the air. He lay down (again causing the chair to creak) behind Ignis and draped it over the both of them.

“Cozy,” murmured Ignis, as Gladio’s lips pressed to the back of his hair. They had their backs to the tent, and before them was nothing but the rolling, dark expanse of the sea and the star kissed abyss of the night sky.

“You looked like something was on your mind earlier,” said Gladio. Ignis hummed in agreement, running his fingers up and down Gladio’s forearm.

“I used to think I knew for certain the finer things in life,” he said finally, “and what it meant to be able to enjoy them. But - the one thing I never thought about was time.” He sighed. “We should have done this before.”

“What, spoon?” Ignis swatted Gladio lightly.

“Gotten out of the city. Gone camping. Enjoyed the beauty of the night.” He lifted Gladio’s knuckles to his lips and kissed them absently. “Why did it take a crisis to get my nose out of my work and have dessert with my friends?”

“I think,” said Gladio, “don’t worry about the why. Just be glad that you did, and you had fun.” He tightened the arm around Ignis. “You want to go camping?” asked Gladio. “A little getaway, just the two of us, when everything is said and done.”

“I think,” said Ignis, “when everything is said and done we might be sick of camping for the time being.” Gladio chuckled. “But,” Ignis continued. “I would like that. It may be a while, but I’ll hold you to it.”


End file.
